Birdcam, early June

This period saw more of the same array species, including lots of young birds, often accompanied by one or more parents.

A sharp female Bullock's Oriole dropped by on the 4th of June, showing the ash-gray back and bright wingbars which help distinguish it from the (locally) more common Hooded Oriole.















A Western Scrub-Jay (below), not new to the birdcam but relatively infrequent, was a daily visitor during this period.




The biggest surprise, however, was a stunning male Purple Finch, pretty rare in mid-summer in Los Angeles, though a scarce breeder in the Santa Monica Mountains (including at nearby Franklin Canyon). It might have been taking a break from duties there, or perhaps it was a dispersing male that failed to attract a mate, possible given the small size of the local population.

It's told from the much more abundant House Finch by the wine-colored pinkish-red crown, and the suffusion of the same wine-red color throughout its upperparts. This individual shows a good amount of brownish streaking along the flanks, as well as a large bill, which are typical for the local California race of the species.

Birdcam, pt. II

We had the birdcam back up and running from 5/2 - 5/9 (all day each day). As before, huge numbers of Lesser Goldfinches and House Finches - owing to the thistle and seed feeders nearby. Around 1,500 shots were of these species. The next most frequently-photographed bird was Mourning Dove (170 shots), Band-tailed Pigeon and Hooded Oriole (145 each) and Spotted Towhee (136).
A gorgeous male Black-headed Grosbeak was a nice surprise, visiting twice on 5/3.













Two days later, a second grosbeak came in, this one without the solid black head (shown with a House Finch).








Keeping with the orange theme, a nice female Bullock's Oriole dropped in briefly on 5/8 (below), which was actually a migrant - only the Hooded seems to nest in the area, though Bullock's are common nesters in nearby Franklin Canyon.



















We're noticing lots of young birds at the bath (juvenile Song Sparrow, right), including several instances of adults feeding and interacting with young at the bath.


A Spotted Towhee was nice surprise (below), though not exactly rare in the area - check out the red eye.



A female Western Tanager (below) might have been passed off as a female oriole, but this shot shows the fat bill and eyering, as well as the broad wingbars.













Warblers are always a treat, and this male Yellow Warbler on the 8th spent some time getting wet (below).

New toy: Birdcam

Back in March, one of my clients in the hills above Franklin Canyon (Beverly Hills) asked me to set her up with a "Birdcam", a small, motion-detecting camera designed for photographing birds at feeders.

I ordered it from Wingscapes, along with a few accessories (Wingscape memory card and reader, batteries), the whole package coming in at around $300.

After a few calls to customer service (an extremely helpful and friendly PERSON!), we were ready to go. The camera was installed about a foot away from a fountain in the backyard in early April, and ran for the next two weeks (4-19 Apr.). The camera works by snapping a (digital) photo when it senses heat and movement (hence, the moving water of the fountain doesn't register). You can set the interval between shots, and I set hers to take a photograph every 5 seconds. So, if a bird is on the fountain for 20 seconds, you'll get 4 photos of the bird. The camera automatically shuts down at night, and doesn't have a flash.

In all, over 2,000 images were captured. Around half were of one species, the Lesser Goldfinch (above), probably because of the dozens of Lesser Goldfinches attracted to the seed feeders at this particular yard.

The next more common capture, somewhat surprisingly since they're not that numerous, was the Hooded Oriole (below), which was photographed in around 12% of all images.



Nearly 200 shots were of Band-tailed Pigeons, often with multiple birds crowding into the fountain for a bath and drink.



Other common species (100+ images) included Allen's Hummingbird, Mourning Dove and House Finch. Below shows a sequence of an Allen's Hummingbird bathing, followed by a shot of its incredible gleaming-red gorget.






Of course, there were several surprises. A few species were only seen for a few seconds during the multi-week run, including this gorgeous Lazuli Bunting:



And this male Black-throated Gray Warbler:

Malibu Lagoon

Spent an hour here this morning looking for rarities (and not finding any). The ocean had apparently over-washed the sandbar, smoothing out the slope into the lagoon, and probably improving conditions for shorebirds. A row of about 20 Black-bellied Plover stood at the lagoon's edge, and at least 20 Snowy Plover were scattered from here east, most resting in footprint depressions on sand not washed smooth. I was surprised to could 16 Least Terns here, most roosting with Snowy Plovers, representing a variety of ages, but largely first-year birds. Other shorebirds included Sanderling (30+), Semipalmated Plover (5-10), Willet and Whimbrel. Mallard and Gadwall were again the only ducks still. A couple Western Grebes floated offshore, but nothing else was out there, like a couple weeks ago.

The only landbird surprise was a single Oak Titmouse on the back path. An Ash-throated Flycatcher may have been the same one that has been here since July. A couple Savannah Sparrows called overhead, and more called from the saltgrass/Salicornia "island" of the inner lagoon; these were about the only passerine migrants, aside from dozens of Cliff, Barn and NRW Swallows.

Malibu coast notes

Took a leisurely drive up PCH w/ a visiting birder today, making a first stop at Malibu Lagoon. Dozens of Cliff, Barn and Rough-winged swallows were swooping and feeding young. On the sandbar, 20+ Least Terns and a handful of arriving Snowy Plovers were loafing, the terns bringing fish to juveniles. Small groups of shorebirds were moving downcoast, incl. c. 30 Black-bellied Plovers. Offshore was dead - 1 Western Grebe and a few distant Elegant Terns were about it, but it was after 9am. The lagoon was a full bathtub, unfortunately. Mallard and a Gadwall or two were the only ducks.

Zuma Creek mouth had a few early-arriving Western Kingbirds perched on bulrushes, but otherwise only Mallards in the lagoon. About 20 Heermann's Gulls resting on the beach, various ages. Just one or two California Gulls (mainly Western). Many dragonflies and damselflies though - shoulda spent more time keeping track of them, but mainly blue darners and flame-type skimmers.

Scanned from Pt. Dume but had nothing, though Mugu Rock had several hundred Black-vented Shearwaters moving west nearly at the horizon. Mugu Lagoon was virtually bird-free, but it was hot and bright (and around noon) by then, so we had lunch up by the 101 and headed home. A quick drive through the sod farms yielded nothing, as did a check of Revelon Slough, but we ran into a family of Hooded Orioles clamoring through a weedy ditch at the Laguna Rd. tams (and little else).

Los Angeles S.H.P.

I took another walk at the newish L.A. State Historic Park at the former Chinatown Yards last week (5/13/08) and was a little surprised to see a female Yellow-headed Blackbird (see photo) foraging on the lawn with starlings. Single Wilson's (singing) and Yellow warblers rounded out the other migrants.

Also present was a family of recently-fledged Say's Phoebe (rare in the central L.A. Basin, esp. coastward), as well as a California Towhee carrying food along the weedy slope up to Mission Rd., along the Gold Line right-of-way.

Malibu Lagoon, chat etc.

Spent an hour at Malibu Lagoon this morning and found a few interesting things. A Yellow-breasted Chat was singing weakly in shrubbery near the "mini dune" just before you reach the beach.

Two Snowy Plovers, not necessarily a pair, were working the sandy beach ridge near the lifeguard tower.

The tide was as low as I'd ever seen it, and pelicans, gulls and dozens of (mainly Elegant) terns were roosting far out on the rocks/tidepools. A pair of Elegant Terns were engaged in courtship behavior (bringing fish). A Cattle Egret sailed in from the ocean and landed next to the pelican flock off the beach. A single (calling) Least Tern came down to land near the beach near the lifeguard tower but I was too far away to see where.

The lagoon was pretty quiet, as we're between major migration periods, so a Spotted Sandpiper was the only sandpiper here, with small #s of Sanderlings along the beach and on the rocks. Otherwise, two Black-bellied Plovers and a Black Turnstone rounded out the shorebirds. Three female Red-breasted Mergansers were loafing in the lagoon, maybe for the summer?

Great Egrets were again nesting in the (heavily-pruned) trees of Malibu Country Mart, with maybe 5 active nests visible as I drove past.

The new expanded parking lot and plantings has really changed the feel of the northern part of the park, with a lot more open space, less planted saltbush, etc.